Hospitals are in the business of saving lives. Unfortunately for the administrators of those institutions, it may also seem that hospitals are in the business of saving paper and records. Even the smallest hospital has to put aside space to store masses of data about a patient's medical history and untold numbers of X-rays.

Image Resources Inc., a 6-year-old private Winter Park company, sees profit potential in that. The company has developed a fully digital (meaning computerized) system of storing and managing sensitive medical records.

Using the fundamental technology of the personal computer, Image Resources is marketing its Digi-Pac 8 record-keeper and database manager to hospitals throughout Florida. Negotiations are under way with a handful, but no sales have yet been made, said Michael Cannavo, a sales consultant in the company's medical division.

The Digi-Pac 8 can accept information from a variety of input devices, including CAT-scan, Ultrasound and X-ray machines. Pictures produced by these are then translated to digital information which can be stored -- and retrieved -- at will.

Putting the images into digital form provides much greater storage capacity as well as placing them in a format less susceptible to wear and tear.

The information can either be stored inside a hard disk in the computer itself or transferred to ''outboard'' storage devices, including optical memory disks that are similar to the popular compact discs used to record music.

A doctor using an optical disk reader in conjunction with the Digi-Pac 8 would be able to choose from among 10,000 X-rays in less than half a second. The system also allows for remote access to the medical records.

In addition to its function as a medical records storage, the Digi-Pac 8 also can work as a personal computer or work station running IBM PC-compatible software programs such as Lotus 123.

Bob Brook, founder of Image Resources, said Digi-Pac 8 could be worth $6 million to $7 million in annual sales. Image Resources expects to do about $5.5 million in sales this year, Brook said.

A basic Digi-Pac 8 system costs $18,750, but hospitals would need at least two, one to transmit and one to receive data. More probably, sales will involve several machines.

The medical business is relatively new to Image Resources, which began in 1979 selling broadcast video equipment and then branched out into post- production video work. But Brook suggests the market for tele-radiology equipment, including machines like Digi-Pac 8, could be as big as $300 million to $400 million within five years.

Noting that some very large companies are working on similar systems, Brook said, ''Those are big boats and they move slow in the water. We are a small company and we can react quicker to changes in the market.''

SALES PACT

Melbourne-based Harris Corp. and General Datacomm Industries Inc. of Middlebury, Conn., have agreed to sell each other's products.

Harris, a $2 billion communications and computer equipment manufacturer, will offer telecommunications and data communications products made by General Datacomm, which is an $85 million maker of sophisticated devices that are used in communications networks.

General Datacomm, meanwhile, will be able to sell Harris satellite earth stations, antennas and microwave radio equipment as part of packaged systems sold to businesses.

''This agreement expands the marketing opportunities for the communications products of both companies,'' said C.P. Johnson, General Datacomm's chairman. ''Because of the increased interest in local and wide- area bypass services as a cost-saving measure, General Datacomm anticipated many opportunities to sell Harris products as part of a total system.''

Martin Marietta Orlando Aerospace has received $589.9 million worth of contracts to produce 140 nuclear-tipped Pershing II missiles. The Army has said there are only 108 Pershing IIs being deployed in Western Europe, but Martin Marietta officials point out that extras are being assembled for training purposes and also for spare parts.

How many of the original 108 are included in the 140 covered by the recent contracts is something neither the company nor the Army will say. The exact number of Pershings being built is classified.

The arrival of the Pershing in Germany last year sparked anti-nuclear demonstrations. Reports that there may be as many as 250 Pershing IIs built should be discounted, Martin Marietta officials say. But the program will be worth more than $1 billion before it is through, they acknowledge.